Improvement it machines for punching boiler-plates



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Thue- N.PETEHS, PHoTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, uc.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RHESA GRIFFIN, OF SYRAOUSE, NEWv YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IT MACHINES FOR PUNCHING BOILER-PLATES.

KSpecication forming part of Iietters Patent No. 33,989, dated December24, 1861.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, RHESA GRIFFIN, of the city of Syracuse, inthe:county of Onondaga, State of New York, have invented a new andImproved Mode for More Expeditiously and Accurately Punching Plates forSteam- Boilers, and for other purposes that require a cylindrical formand I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings,and to theletters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists, first, in a series of rods or barswith catches arranged between two parallel ways er tracks Z Z for atable or platform to travel on, as seen at the vertical cross-section,Fig. l, and thereby forming a rack for the latch or pawl to act upon,and a sway-bar n and its connections at j with the cross-bar m, Fig. 2;also, the forni of the catches and their connections with the sway-bar,as representedat a, Figs. 6 and 7 also, the adjustable platform a, Fig.3, with the slide A (which is more fully shown at A A, Fig. 5) andmovable dies t t, with holes o o, and stationary dies w, with pin theuse of which in the following description is more fully explained: Thecross-bar m, Fig. 2, is secured to the ways at right angles from one tothe other directly over the edge of the sway-bar n, and when the swaybaris in this position the catches or hooks are extended their extremedistance from the cross-bar m. It is evident that the outside cylinder,which forms one section of a boiler, is several times the thickness ofthe iron used longer in circumference than the inside cylinder. Toillustrate more clearly, take aplate of iron nine (9) feet long andone-quarter (1.1;

of an inch thick and punch the holes (being regulated by the rack orcatches, as above represented) for an outside cylinder. Now, to form acylinder that will fit the inside of this properly with the same numberof holes the sway-bar 'n will be drawn back by the bar P, Fig. 2, seven(7) times the thickness of the iron used for the cylinder, or one andthreefourths (l) inches at the figure nine (9) on the sway-bar, as seenat an, Fig. 2, the catches or hooks which form the rack keeping theirrelative distance from each other at the same time. If the circumferenceof a cylinder was four (4) feet, then the sway-bar would be drawn backseven (7) times the thickness of the iron used at the figure four (4)from the cross-bar m. Again, if the circumference of a cylinder waseighteen (1S) feet the sway-bar would be drawn back seven-eighths of aninch (the thickness of the plate being the same) at the iigure nine (9)on the sway-bar, or one-half the distance.

At Fig. 3 is represented a sheet of boilerplate secured to the platformc by the clamps e e, the end of the plate against the pin Fig. 4represents a side elevation of the platform, showing the slide y, withthe incline plane which acts upon the arm e, which is attached to thepawl or latch fi, which raises it clear from the rack d, Fig. 2; B B,the truckwheels; 7i, crank on pinion-shaft; It, set-screws that hold theslide A, and q the set-screws that hold the movable dies t t.

The advantage derived from the use of the slide A A is that the holes cfr in the dies t t can be always brought directly in front of the punchor die r and be at right angles with t-he table or platform, and arereadily adjusted by letting the pawl i down into the rack d and movingthe end of the table near the front of the punch or die, Fig. 3, holdingthe pawl or latch firm against the catch or rack. Then loosen theset-screws k 7c and draw out or shove in the slide A A, as the case maybe, until the holes fv c are in the right position,

which is readily obtained by having the slide strike against the catcheson the end of the brace s, as seen on the outside of the ways, and oneend a little in front of the punching-machine, as seen at Figs. 2 and 3,and secure it in that position by the set-screws It lo.

It is evident that in punching the differentsized cylinders anddifferent thicknesses of iron of the same size the holes in the dieswould not be twice in the same place or positien relative to the punch.The object of having the holes exactly in front of the punch is thatwhen the plate is punched on the edge that edge may be brought over thedies and pins put through the holes in the plate into the holes in thedies, and in this position is ready to be punched across the end of theplate, which will be exactly at right angles. It is also evident thatthe holes in a plate for an inside cylinder will be nearer together thanthose in an outside cylinder; hence the necessity of having the dies ttmovable. The

object of the hole u in the die t is to punch across the ends of platesat dierent angles.

Instead ofputting the pin through the plate into the hole fu, I will putit into the hole w, and to increase the angle this same die may be movedmore or less toward the punch.

To put a plate on the platform in its proper place is simply to put oneend of the plate against the pin 0c with the slat 0, Fig. 3, or anysimilar device, ascertain how far over the platform to place it, andsecure it with the clamps e e, when it will be ready for punching.

The more fully to illustrate the advantages of this machine over theordinary Inode of laying out and punching iron for boilers and otherpurposes of like form I will describe the usual method, which is thus:For a cylinder nine feet in circumference, take a slat or strip of boardnine feet long and three inches wide and lay out and bore the holesseveneighths of an inch from the edge the proper distance apart-say twoinches-and in the other edge make the same number of holes, but reducethe distance from center to center of the holes enough so that in thelength of the slat the second row of holes terminates seven times thethickness of the iron or plates to be used shorter than the first row ofholes. Now, if the iron or plates were one-quarter of one inch thick,the holes in one side of the slat would be one and three-quarters (l)inches shorter than the holes in the other side from end to end of theslat. Again, if the iron or plates used were three-sixteenths of an inchthick and the same sized cylinder, a new slat or pattern would have tobe made to iit the difference in the thickness of iron, and consequentlya slat or pattern must be made for every variation of size of cylinderand thickness of iron used, and, again, when the slats or patterns areprepared they are laid on the plates to mark the holes, and when thusmarked it is with the greatest care that the holes are punched wherethey are marked. With my machine the holes can all be punched in lesstime than they can be laid out in the ordinary way and much moreaccurately, and when the plates are punched with my machine and puttogether the holes will fit each other so exact that onethird morerivets can be driven in a day than can be driven in cylinders punched inthe ordinary Way and far better, for the reason that if the holes do notfit each other properly it requires reaming; but to dispense with thelabor of reaming, a drift-pin is driven in to open the holes largeenough for the rivets; but this is a very bad operation, for it raises aburr or upsets the iron between the sheets or plates and prevents theplates or sheets from being drawn together by the rivets, and anotherdiscrepancy shows itself. If the holes do not fit each other and arereamed out, the holes will be angular through the two sheets, and whenthe rivet is driven the heads on each side of the sheets or plates arenot opposite each other. Consequently a portion of the strength of therivet is lost.

What I claim as my invention is- A series of rods or bars with catchesor hooks arranged between two parallel ways or tracks for a platform totravel on, thereby forming a rack, as seen at d, Fig. 2, for the latchor pull t', as seen at Fig. 4,t0 set against when let down by slide y;also, the sway-bar n and form of the catches and the manner ofconnecting them to the sway-bar n, as seen at Figs. 6 and 7 also, thebar m over the sway-bar n; also, slide A, attached to the platform a, byset-screws K K, Fig. 3, with a slot in it at right angles with theplatform, as is also seen at A A, Fig. 5, with movable dies tt, withholes in them for the more expeditiously adjusting of the plates orsheets of iron, for the use and purposes above mentioned.

RI-IESA GRIFFIN.

Witnesses:

JAs. H. MASON, EBENEZER GRIFFIN,

